Terms & Conditions

AWOL Travel specialises in creating unique, tailor-made travel experiences for individuals, couples, families and special-interest groups, including clubs, university and school groups. Our itineraries include a wide range of adventure, cultural and nature-based activities, ensuring an immersive and memorable journey.

While many activities, such as walking safaris, white shark cage diving and kayaking, are outsourced to specialist operators, we personally oversee all logistics to guarantee seamless experiences. Our tours take you into national parks, nature reserves and cultural hotspots, offering a balance between outdoor adventure and cultural exploration.

AWOL Travel works with expert tour leaders and guides to enhance your experience, ensuring your itinerary aligns with your interests, budget and travel style.

Preparing for Your Trip

Our goal is to eliminate the hassle of travel so that you can fully enjoy your experience. However, travellers are responsible for ensuring they have the necessary travel documents, visas, vaccinations and a spirit of adventure. Please be mindful that local living standards, customs, accommodation and services may differ from those in your home country. Embracing the road less travelled often leads to a more authentic and rewarding experience.

Group Size and Private Tours

• All tours are calculated on a minimum of two guests sharing a room. Single supplements apply for solo travellers.
• Scheduled group departures accommodate a minimum of four guests and a maximum of twenty guests.

These Terms and How They Apply

These terms govern every booking made with AWOL Travel (Pty) Ltd . A binding contract comes into effect when we have confirmed your booking in writing and received your deposit. By paying that deposit you accept these terms on behalf of every traveller named in the booking.

Where you make a booking for more than one traveller, you confirm that you have the authority of each traveller to enter into this contract on their behalf, that you have brought these terms to their attention, and that you are liable to us for the full amount payable for the booking.

Where these terms conflict with any summary of them contained in an itinerary, proposal or other document, these terms prevail.

Our Role and Third-Party Suppliers

AWOL Travel plans, books and coordinates your journey. Many of the services within it, including accommodation, guiding, transport, activities, meals and excursions, are provided by independent third-party suppliers. We select those suppliers with care and oversee the arrangements, but we do not own or operate them.

You acknowledge that the terms and conditions of each third-party supplier, including their cancellation, amendment and no-refund policies, apply to your booking in addition to these terms. We will provide a copy of any such terms, or the supplier contact for them, on request.

Where you are entitled to a refund that is held by a third-party supplier, we will pass it on to you once we have received it. We are not obliged to refund you in advance of receiving those funds ourselves.

Where a part of your journey takes place outside South Africa, it is delivered by independent operators established in that country and is subject to the law of that country and to that operator’s own terms and insurance arrangements. Your remedy for loss or damage caused by the act or omission of such an operator lies against that operator. We will assist you in pursuing it, and will pass on any recovery we obtain. 
Nothing in this section excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, condition, warranty, right or remedy conferred by the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where we are permitted to limit our liability, it is limited to resupplying the services or paying the cost of having them resupplied.

Meals and Drinks

Food is an integral part of the travel experience, and we make local cuisine a highlight of our tours. Meals range from picnic lunches on the beach while whale watching to three-course dinners in remote farm lodges.

• Special dietary requirements, for example vegetarian, vegan or gluten free, can be accommodated on request.
• Breakfasts are included in the tour price unless otherwise specified.
• Guests are responsible for their own drinks and refreshments.
• Any dietary requirement, allergy or intolerance must be notified to us in writing at the time of booking. We will pass it to the relevant suppliers, but we cannot guarantee that every kitchen on your journey is able to accommodate it, and we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment.

Accommodation

AWOL Travel offers a variety of accommodation that reflects the character of the locality, from luxury safari lodges and boutique hotels to rustic forest cabins, farmhouses and camping under the stars.

• We prioritise accommodation that offers character, prime location and atmosphere.
• Prices are based on per-person sharing unless otherwise requested.
• Single supplements apply and are subject to availability.

Reservations and Payment

To secure a booking, contact AWOL Travel by email to make your reservation and complete a booking form providing accurate travel details. A deposit of 50 per cent, which is non-refundable, is required to confirm your booking. The remaining balance must be paid 30 days before departure. For bookings made less than one month before departure, full payment is required at the time of booking.

Where a supplier within your itinerary requires settlement earlier than the dates above, we will tell you at the time of booking and the balance date for your booking will be brought forward accordingly.

Quotes are valid for one month and may be subject to change thereafter. Once your booking is confirmed, the price is fixed save where a supplier increase, a change in government taxes, levies or park fees, a change in exchange rates, or a fuel surcharge obliges us to adjust it. We will notify you of any such adjustment in writing as soon as we are aware of it, together with the reason and the amount. Where an adjustment notified after confirmation exceeds five per cent of the total booking value, you may cancel within seven days of our notice and receive a full refund of all amounts you have paid to us. Once your booking is paid in full, the price will not be increased.

All reservations are concluded under Australian law, as AWOL Travel is an Australian-registered company.

The courts of Queensland, Australia have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from your booking.

Changes to the Itinerary

AWOL Travel reserves the right to modify itineraries due to unforeseen circumstances, including but not limited to weather conditions, wildlife movements and operational challenges beyond our control. Any changes will be made with the safety and enjoyment of participants in mind.

Where a change of this kind becomes necessary, we will provide an alternative of comparable standard wherever it is possible to do so. Any unavoidable additional cost of accommodation, transport, activities or meals arising from such a change is for the traveller’s account, and we will tell you of it before the cost is incurred wherever circumstances allow.

Where you request a change to a confirmed booking, we will do our best to accommodate it subject to availability. Any supplier amendment fee and any resulting increase in price will be for your account, together with an administration fee where the change requires the itinerary to be rebuilt.

Cancellations and Rebooking

Cancellation must be notified to us in writing. Where you request to reschedule at least 90 days before arrival, your deposit may be applied as a credit towards a future tour within 12 months, subject to availability and price adjustment.

Accommodation deposits and other non-recoverable supplier costs are non-refundable. Any refund following cancellation will be subject to the terms of the accommodation and service providers and to the costs already committed on your behalf.

Because the suppliers within an itinerary each apply their own cancellation terms, the charge on cancellation is the total of the amounts our suppliers are entitled to retain, together with any deposit that is non-refundable under these terms and a reasonable administration charge for the work already carried out. We will provide a written breakdown of that calculation. Where a supplier later releases funds to us, we will pass them on to you.

For group bookings, cancellation must be notified at least one month in advance. The cancellation of one traveller within a group may affect the price payable by the remaining travellers, for example where a twin room becomes a single.

AWOL Travel reserves the right to cancel a tour due to unforeseen circumstances. In such cases we will provide a full refund of any payments received. However, we are not responsible for losses incurred on non-refundable travel arrangements such as flights.

Flights and Other Transport Booked on Your Behalf

Where we book a flight, charter or other transport on your behalf, we do so as your agent. The contract of carriage is between you and the carrier, and the carrier’s own conditions of carriage apply. We are not the carrier and are not liable for delay, cancellation, schedule change, denied boarding, missed connection or loss of baggage.

Where the sectors of your journey are held on separate tickets, those bookings do not protect one another: a delay on one does not oblige the carrier on another to reaccommodate you. We will point this out where we see it, and we recommend you allow a generous connection and insure against the risk.

Please reconfirm your flight timings with the carrier shortly before departure, as schedules change.

Baggage

Baggage allowances on safari and light aircraft are considerably lower than on international services. Where your itinerary includes a light aircraft transfer, baggage is normally limited to one soft-sided bag of 15 to 20 kilograms per person, and hard suitcases cannot be carried. We will tell you the applicable limit in your itinerary. Excess baggage may have to be stored at your own cost.

Travel Requirements

Travellers must hold a valid passport and obtain any necessary visas independently. AWOL Travel is not responsible for visa delays. Any information we give you about passports, visas, entry permits or border requirements is of a general nature only, is not professional advice, and must be confirmed with the relevant embassy, consulate or your own adviser before you travel. You are solely responsible for holding documents that satisfy the entry and exit requirements of every country on your itinerary, including any country through which you transit. We are not liable for any cost, fine, penalty, cancellation or denied entry arising from a document you do not hold.

Consult your doctor or a travel clinic regarding vaccinations and health precautions before departure. Please inform us of any pre-existing medical condition at the time of booking so that we can accommodate your needs appropriately.

You confirm that each traveller is reasonably fit to undertake the activities in the itinerary. Some of our journeys reach remote areas where medical facilities are limited and evacuation may take time. Where a traveller has a medical condition, a mobility limitation or a dietary requirement that may affect their participation, it must be disclosed in writing at the time of booking so that we can advise whether the itinerary is suitable.

Insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is mandatory for all travellers. Your policy must include medical evacuation and repatriation, including helicopter rescue where necessary, trip cancellation and delay, and cover for lost luggage and theft.

Your policy must be in place from the date your deposit is paid, so that it responds to a cancellation as well as to an event during travel. It must cover every activity in your itinerary, including any the insurer may treat as hazardous, and must provide emergency medical and evacuation cover appropriate to remote areas. We ask that you send us a copy of the certificate, with the policy number and the insurer’s emergency telephone number, before departure.

Your travel insurance is your primary protection against the cost of illness, injury, evacuation and cancellation. Our own liability insurance is not a substitute for it and does not respond to your medical or repatriation expenses.

AWOL Travel reserves the right to cancel a booking where adequate insurance is not in place. Guests will be responsible for reimbursing any medical or emergency transport costs incurred during the trip.

Indemnity and Liability

AWOL Travel takes every precaution to ensure safety and quality by working with licensed tour guides, meeting international safety standards and evaluating all activities for suitability. However, participation in adventure travel involves inherent risks, including physical activity that may be demanding, remote locations with limited medical facilities, and accident, injury or theft.

Each traveller is required to sign our indemnity and acknowledgement of risk form, and any separate waiver required by an activity operator, before participating. Where a traveller is under eighteen, a parent or legal guardian must sign on their behalf. We are not able to carry a traveller who has not signed.

By signing the indemnity form at the start of the tour, guests agree that AWOL Travel is not liable for loss, injury or damage, except in cases of reckless or fraudulent misconduct by AWOL Travel employees or guides.

AWOL Travel reserves the right to decline a guest’s participation where their health or behaviour jeopardises the safety and enjoyment of the group, and to require travellers to follow the authority of the tour leader, whose decisions are final regarding safety, conduct and itinerary.

Where a booking is terminated during travel because of a traveller’s conduct, because they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or because they refuse a reasonable instruction relating to safety, no refund is payable and any cost of onward travel or accommodation is for that traveller’s account.

Nothing in this section excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, condition, warranty, right or remedy conferred by the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where we are permitted to limit our liability, it is limited to resupplying the services or paying the cost of having them resupplied.

Privacy and Personal Information

We collect personal information about each traveller, including name, passport details, contact details, dietary requirements and, where disclosed, relevant medical information, in order to make and manage your booking. We handle it in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

To deliver your journey we must disclose the information necessary for each booking to our suppliers, which include accommodation, guides, transport operators, activity operators and ground handlers in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and elsewhere. By making a booking you consent to that disclosure, and you acknowledge that the recipients are outside Australia and may not be subject to privacy laws equivalent to the Australian Privacy Principles.

We disclose only the information a supplier needs. We do not sell your information, and we do not pass your contact details to suppliers for their own marketing.

Photography and Media Consent

AWOL Travel may use photographs or video footage from tours for promotional purposes. Wherever possible, images will be shared with participants before publication. By joining an AWOL Travel tour, guests consent to the use of their image unless they tell us otherwise.

If you would prefer that we did not use your image, please tell us in writing at any time and we will be happy to advise the guides to comply.

If Something Goes Wrong

If a problem arises during your journey, please raise it at the time with your guide, the supplier concerned or with us, so that we have the opportunity to put it right while you are still travelling. Where a matter cannot be resolved at the time, please write to us within 30 days of returning home, with the relevant details and any supporting documents, and we will respond within 30 days.

Final Notes

AWOL Travel is committed to providing exceptional travel experiences that blend adventure, culture and nature. By booking with us you agree to these terms and conditions, which are available on our website. For enquiries or reservations, please contact AWOL Travel by email.

We look forward to creating an unforgettable journey for you!